


Something to Celebrate

by flightinflame



Category: X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Child Abandonment, Christmas Fluff, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/F, Past Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:22:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28150821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flightinflame/pseuds/flightinflame
Summary: Irene and Raven always let Christmas pass them by, haunted by memories of past celebrations which were anything but joyful. But the discovery of a basket on their doorstep changes everything.
Relationships: Irene Adler (X-Men) & Kurt Wagner, Irene Adler (X-Men)/Raven | Mystique, Raven | Mystique & Kurt Wagner
Comments: 6
Kudos: 17
Collections: Secret Mutant Madness 2020





	Something to Celebrate

**Author's Note:**

  * For [InsertSthMeaningful](https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsertSthMeaningful/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [InsertSthMeaningful](https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsertSthMeaningful/pseuds/InsertSthMeaningful) in the [secret_mutant_madness_2020](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/secret_mutant_madness_2020) collection. 



> Thank you to DoctorMagenta for betaing this.
> 
> **Prompt:**
> 
> Raven and Irene are pure atheists. They don't believe in God or the authority of the Church, and in the height of summer Irene already gets rabies because she receives visions of shops playing Christmas music in _October_. So, it's no surprise that Christmas Eve finds them spending the evening like on any other normal day - cooking dinner, watching cartoons with their son Kurt, grabbing a quickie in the shower if they're lucky. (Christmas cookies are the only tradition they appropriated, for Kurt's sake, and also because Irene has a sweet tooth.) 
> 
> Except this year, something is different. This year, their doorbell rings, and Raven goes to open it just to find a very special kind of gift on the doorstep - a crying bundle of blankets in a basket, suspiciously baby-shaped. 
> 
> This is the story of how Rogue came into the Adler-Darkhölme family and found love.

Raven liked October. Liked the way she could walk down the street with her arm linked with that of her wife, and feel the chill breeze in the air. Liked the way that the colours of the falling leaves matched her own hair and eyes, the way that Kurt looked adorable wrapped up in woollen jumpers and thick shoes that his uncle had ordered specially. Loved the photos her brother-in-law sent of her brother bundled up, beaming in delight at being in a pumpkin patch surrounded by his chaotic tangle of children, all wrapped up in matching scarves, and with Nina calling down squirrels and other creatures to pose with them.

What she didn't love was the fact that as they walked down the street, Irene whined, turning and pressing her face against Raven's shoulder.

"Darling?"

"They're going to start playing Christmas music."

"It's October. Not even late October." She knew that, because her and Kurt were still having a heated discussion about what he could wear for Halloween. 

"Tomorrow. The fifth." Irene gave a pitiful little noise, clutching at her, and Raven shushed her with a fond smile, knowing her darling would have songs she hated stuck in her head for the next few months. 

Christmas just... wasn't a thing for their little family. And the fact it chased them around made them ignore it even harder - Raven haunted by memories of lonely childhood Christmases at Westchester Manor, and Irene by the fact she'd know months ahead about arguments that would break out over the turkey. 

The twenty-fifth of December was the same as the twenty-fifth of any other month, aside from Kurt watching some more cartoons and eating his own weight in mince pies and sugar cookies. They did gifts at other times of year, spoiled Kurt rotten on his birthday, and did what they could to let Christmas pass them by. Raven was happy to ignore it.

***

Raven was cuddling on the couch with her wife when Irene frowned, pulling away and fixing her shirt.

"Irene?"

"Phone." Irene snapped. Raven grabbed it, as Irene fumbled for her own phone, talking to it to tell it to dial Charles and then walking from the room.

An hour later, Raven was driving back from Kurt's school, fuming as he sobbed on his Mama in the back of the car, and Raven wanted to punch someone. Possibly the child who had told Kurt that angels couldn't be blue or have tails, but more likely the teacher who had agreed. She'd sort out taking it further later. For now, they had to reassure their perfect little boy that he was wonderful, and reassure him that he would be a great tree in the school production.

Raven never liked Christmas, but this year she was angry at it.

***

The evening of the twenty fourth seemed... odd. Kurt was flopped on the couch, his little tail wiggling in the air as his Mama ran her hands over his favourite book, reading to him. She already knew it by heart, but Kurt insisted she read it properly. Raven was finishing icing some cookies for the next day, and trying to shake the feeling that there was something upsetting Irene. She told herself she was just tense in case of arguments, having learned they were likely. But it didn't... that didn't quite feel right.

"What's wrong?" she asked, once they'd got Kurt tucked up under his blanket, his favourite teddy tucked into his arms. She offered a cookie out to Irene, concerned that her wife hadn't even tried to steal one.

"Something's going to happen."

Just as Irene said that, the doorbell rung. Raven raised an eyebrow. "Well, that was ominous."

"I don't know..." Irene mumbled, and Raven morphed into a large man, ready to fight any potential threat. The nastiness they'd faced as a mutant family had mostly faded, but she wasn't going to risk anyone getting hurt. She approached the door, opening it.

There was no one outside. She looked around, but couldn't see anyone. 

Then she spotted the basket.

She picked it up, and saw there was a pale pink blanket. She knew, even before she peeled it back what she would find, but she still wasn't prepared to open it to find a tiny child staring up. There was a letter in there, and she carried them both inside, rocking the basket carefully. She heard Irene close the door behind her.

She sat on the couch, easing the baby from the basket. She was wearing a onesie that covered her hands and feet, but her face looked normal aside from a little white streak of hair.

"Hello there," Raven whispered, painfully aware of how she had been abandoned as a child.

The child was cold, and she tucked her against her body as she opened the letter, morphing back to her blue form. She read the letter out loud, Irene leaning against her.

"Hello. This is Marie. She was born on the 5th of October, and she's a mutant. If you touch her, she makes you ill. She nearly killed her brother. We can't keep her. I'm sorry. We've seen you and your son, and we know you're mutants. We wanted her to have a home where she would be loved, and we couldn't give her that." The note wasn't signed.

Irene flinched, reaching out to brush her hand over the baby's blanket. "Poor little girl..." she whispered. "She deserves better than that."

"She has better now." Raven answered stubbornly. "I'm keeping her."

"They'll know you've got her from somewhere-" Irene pointed out, then frowned a little. "Charles. We talk to Charles, he can let us borrow his lawyer. We can keep her safe."

Raven hadn't realised until that moment just how much she wanted the child to be alright. But hearing that she would be made her want to cry. This was their little girl, a child who had faced so much cruelty, and would now get to experience the love that she deserved. There was no question about that, just the simple knowledge that they were going to give this girl the kindness she had been denied for far too long.

She heard a soft noise behind her, a quiet whisper in the wind. She looked over her shoulder to see that Kurt was standing there, his tail in his hands. His eyes seemed to glow in the darkness.

"Is... is that a baby?" he whispered.

"It is. Come and meet your new sister." Irene answered, patting her lap, and the boy wandered over. Raven stared down at the beautiful child in her arms, and wondered how anyone could have abandoned such an innocent. She'd always blamed herself for her own abandonment, been sure she did something to provoke it. But this child was blameless.

She'd been blameless too.

She brushed careful fingers through Marie's downy hair, and leaned against her wife. She knew that the two of them would manage this, somehow. They had a daughter now, just as perfect as their little boy.

Next Christmas, they would have something to celebrate.

**Author's Note:**

> If you've enjoyed this story please do comment!


End file.
